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The Gaia Hypothesis Essay, Research
Paper

It is true to
say that mankind mindfully recognizes the Earth as the third planet
from the sun, and the only planet that is capable of supporting life.
Furthermore, it can also be said that mankind thinks of the Earth as
somewhat of a stable platform for human existence. But is this long
accepted theorem true? This question along with many more to follow
began to stump scientists. The demand and curiosity for answers was
impetuous. Why is it that Earth, unlike Venus or Mars, able to
support life? These were some of the questions scientists began to
investigate. And these are the questions that led up to the outcome
of The Gaia Hypothesis . This hypothesis, encountered by a British
biochemist, James Lovelock, states that planet Earth is not just a
platform for an environment for life but is indeed a living organism
itself, which alternates its settings to assure its survival. This
biochemist also stated that the Gaia Hypothesis postulates that the
physical and chemical condition of the surface of the Earth, of the
atmosphere, and of the oceans has been and is actively made fit and
comfortably by the presence of life itself. In addition, Lovelock
believed that the Earth s self-abetting living system is mechanical,
not requiring of any assistance. He investigated this concept and
found the results in favor of his hypothesis. His investigation went
back to the beginning of life, when the earth was first formed. He
found that at that time, the Earth was extremely hot, so hot that the
planet was in danger of overheating, due to Carbon Dioxide or the
greenhouse effect . But further into his study, he also discovered
that such overheating never occurred. Somehow as this heating process
began, the earth managed to remove excess Carbon Dioxide from the
atmosphere, turning it into algae called coccolithophors. He also
noticed that when millions of these coccalithophors group together,
they are clearly visible over a vast area of the ocean. This made it
possible to collect samples of the water, from the English Channel,
containing the coccalithophors. When the sample of water was filtered
and the residue examined, it was found that a shell made of calcium
carbonate protected this type of algae. Moreover, this type of algae
dissolved into the bottom of the ocean, trapping the Carbon Dioxide
with it. And for the algae that did not dissolve, together they
formed to build great big barriers such as the cliff of Dover.
Another study that helped to support the Gaia Hypothesis was the
discovery of yet another way to remove carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere and to replace it with nonetheless another gas, one more
essential to later society. The gas is known as Oxygen. It was during
this time that Lovelock unearthed that trees used the carbon in the
ground as a building platform for their growth. Yet when the trees
died, their roots released the carbon dioxide back into the ground.
Then, as the bacteria in the ground reacts with the Carbon Dioxide,
it causes the gas to oxidize. Lovelock went on to say that all green
vegetation went through a process like what was just explained called
photosynthesis, where a plant takes in carbon dioxide, in turn to
release oxygen. Thus, never too much oxygen was ever released into
the atmosphere, and its level was always held precisely, never too
low, nor too dangerously high. Lovelock proved with this point that
life operates in a regulated form.

Yet in addition,
he went on further to say that people also act as part of this
interactive system. That all life form does. He found that before
humanity, nothing roamed on the surface of the Earth except for
bacteria. This bacteria, called stromatolite admitted gas. This gas
was Oxygen and this was one of the automatic processes in Gaia
Lovelock explored. Today, most of the stromatolite remaining survives
in clusters. Some leave their mark behind in your footsteps while
others sit like an unread book as fossils. But when this fossilized
bacteria, which is in the form of a rock, is cut open, it is possible
to see several layers of color. The bottom portion of the fossil is
made of hydrogen sulfide, while the middle (pink) is made of sulfide,
and the top layer (green) is made up of yet another type of bacteria.
This bacterium is called Cyanobacteria. Lovelock suggests that this
is what played a role in changing the carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere
the Earth once possessed into the oxygen-mixed one that exists up
till today. Finally, Lovelock goes on to propose that this global
superorganism has actively maintained planetary homeostatis over the
three and a half billion years it has been alive. He also added,
Specifically, the Gaia hypothesis says that the temperature,
oxidation, state, acidity, and certain aspects of the rocks and
waters are kept constant, and that this homeostatis is maintained by
active feedback processes operated automatically and unconsciously by
the biota. In conclusion, although the Gaia Hypothesis is somewhat
still of a controversy, some people have used it as an alternative
way of explaining the evolution of the earth and how life operates.
It does though remind human society, as we are living organisms, that
it is the earth that is being modified as an outcome of our actions
and what the future brings, nobody perceives. And who knows, quite
possibly, we may discover one day if this controversy is indeed true,
if the terminus of the dinosaurs or even the terminus of ourselves is
caused by the outcome of the Gaia Hypothesis.

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